Means for preventing rugs from slipping



No. 6|3,487. Patented Nov. I, I898.

A. J. BELL.

MEANS FOR PREVENTING BUGS FROM SLIPPING.

(Application filed. Apr. 28, 1898.)

(N0 Modal.)

\Nitnesses. s Inventor. w a.9 M. ll

y I Attorneys.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT J. BELL, OF CLINTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

MEANS FORPREVENTING RUGS FROM SLIPPING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 613,487, dated November 1, 1898.

Application filed April 23, 1898.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. BELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Clinton, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Means for Preventing Rugs from Slipping, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to attachments or backings for rugs for preventing them from slipping or moving upon the floor; and the object of my invention is to provide a simple, cheap, and efficient attachment which may be applied to the ordinary floor-rugs, so that they will be held from slipping by atmospheric pressure.

To this end my invention consists of the backing for ru gs as an article of manufacture and the combinations of parts, as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims atthe end of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a floor covering or rug provided with attachments for preventing the same from slipping according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectionalview illustrating one of the suction-cups, and Fig; 4 is a similar view showing the position of a suctioncup when brought into engagement with the floor.

Hard-wood floors or floors having polished surfaces are now extensively employed in nearly all dwelling-houses.

It has heretofore been impracticable to secure the floor coverings or rugs employed in connection with polished floors permanently in position by means of tacks or other fasten- 1 ing devices without marring the floors, and,

on the other hand, if the rugs or floor-coverings are left loose upon the surface of the floor they are liable to slip under the feet of the person walking on the same, so that the rugs or floor-coverings are liable to be pushed out of the desired position, and even in many instances serious accidents have happened by the rugs or coverings slipping under the feet of the person walking over the same.

. The especial object of my present invention is, therefore, to provide an attachment for rugs which will secure the same in place by atmospheric pressure, so that the rugs cannot be displacedv or slip under the feet of the Serial No. 678,570. (No model.)

person walking on the same, and at the same time the use of my attachment will not mar or disfigure the surfaces of polished floors.

To these ends a rug constructed according to my invention comprises a body portion or rug of any of the ordinary textile or other materials and a plurality of suction-cups for holding the rug in place.

In the construction which I have herein illustrated and which I preferably employ the suction-cups are carried by or formed integrally with a backing which may be sold in quantity and cut to conform to the shape of the rug or floor-covering in connection with which the same is to be employed. The suction-cups are substantially circular in shape or are partly spherical and are preferably made of rubber and may be integral with the backing or maybe vulcanized or fastened thereto in any of the ordinary manners.

Referring to the drawings and in detail, A designates the front facing or rug, of the ordinary orpreferred construction, and B designates the non-slipping backing. ing B comprises the body portion 10, carrying a plurality of substantially circular or partly-spherical rubber suction-cups 11.

The rubber suction-cups 11 can be cc mented, vulcanized to, or formed integrally with the body portion 10, or they may be fas tened or stitched in place, as by means of wire fastening devices 12, or sewed thereon in any of the ordinary or preferred manners.

In the use of a rug provided with a nonslipping attachment constructed according to my invention the weight of the facing or the pressure from the feet of persons walking on the same will'cause the'suction-cups to adhere closely to the polished surface of a floor, as indicated in Fig. l, so that the rug will be securely held in place by atmospheric pressure, while at the same time the surface of the floor will not be'marred or injured.

By employing a plurality of suction-cups which are distributed evenly on the back of the rug or fabric I am not only enabled to provide a floor covering or rug which can be secured or fixed on the surface of a hardwood fioor without marring or injuring the surface of the floor, but I have also provided a construction which will prevent the edges .of the rugs or floor-coverings from curling up The backtoo or wrinkling and will also relieve the rugs from strains and tensions to which they would be subjected if secured only at their edges.

\Vhen carpets or fioor-coverin gs are tacked or otherwise secured upon the fioor simply at their edges, they are necessarily strained by stretching, so that they will lie flat without wrinkling, and as the entire strain of the carpet is borne simply at the edges, while the center of the carpet may be comparatively slack, the life of the ordinary nailed-down carpet is sometimes diminished by the straining and stretching which is incident to its laying and by the fact that the center part thereof may be left comparatively slack as compared with the edge sections. In a carpet secured upon a floor according to my invention, on the contrary, the suction-cups are preferably not only arranged along the edges of the rug, but are also distributed substantially evenly over the entire back of the carpet, so that no stretching or straining is necessary to insure the rug lying fiat on the floor and the center of the rug will not be left loose, as is now ordinarily the case.

I am aware that changes may be made in the construction of my attachment for preventing floor-ru gs from slipping, and I do not wish, therefore, to be limited to the form of construction which I have herein shown and described; but

\Vhat I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. The combination of a floor covering or rug, and a plurality of suction-cups for preventing said rug from slipping on the floor, substantially as described.

2. As an article of manufacture, anon-slipping backing for floor coverings or rugs comprising a body portion, and a plurality of substantially circular suction-cups carried by v ALBERT J. BELL.

Vitnesses:

PHILIP W. SOUTHGATE, LOUIS W. SOUTHGATE. 

